Genre : Romance Episode : 16 DVD, 36 VCD Cast : Jang Dong Gun, Han Jae Suk, Kim Nam Ju, So Ji Sub

Seorang pria pertengahan abad berdiri tegap tertepa angin kencang di puncak gunung Kun Lun. Pakaiannya yang serba hijau dan tampak sangat rapi dan bersih berkibar-kibar tertiup angin. Namun, pria itu tidak bergeming. Dia menatap lurus ke depan. Posisinya berdiri berada di tepi jurang. Dari tempatnya berdiri itu dia dapat melihat awan kabut di bawahnya sementara puncak-puncak gunung yang runcing di sekeliling gunung itu mencuat menembus lapisan awan. Tampak sangat indah sekali tetapi juga mematikan karena saat itu musim dingin. Seluruh puncak gunung tertutup salju. Hawa dingin yang membekukan darah menaungi puncak gunung. Terlihat di kumis dan jenggot pria itu yang berwarna abu-abu terdapat lapisan-lapisan es yang membeku. Tampak juga di sepasang alis matanya. Namun, nyata kalau pria tua itu tidak dalam keadaan mati membeku karena sinar matanya yang tajam berkilat-kilat. Di punggung pria itu terpanggul sebilah pedang yang sebagian besar tertutup salju, tapi di bagian-bagian yang tidak tertutup salju muncul kilatan cahaya keemasan. Pria tua itu bukan lain adalah seorang tokoh rimba persilatan yang dikenal dengan julukan si Pedang Kilat. Sedang namanya sendiri Buyung Jin. Pria itu masih berdarah bangsawan.

TheUrbanwire.com
Dae Jang Geum, produced by Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) and popularly known in English as Jewel in the Palace and in Mandarin as Da Chang Jin (大长今), is 1 of the latest products in the Korean entertainment wave that’s sweeping the world. The craze for Korean dramas and movies has made household names of the movie My Sassy Girl in 2001, the drama series Winter Sonata in 2002, and now the acclaimed 70-part period drama series, Dae Jang Geum – Jewel in the Palace, which was aired in Korea almost 2 years ago.

Dae Jang Geum’s popularity especially within Asia is unsurpassed in this century. Its viewer ratings reached a historical high of 57.8% in Korea and it was the number 1 viewed programme in Taiwan. It was also a massive hit in Hong Kong where it took the spot for the most popular television drama in history, boasting a top viewer rating of 49%, meaning over 3 million out of Hong Kong’s entire 6.9 million population tuned in at its peak.

Written by a sole scriptwriter who did a year of research for it, Dae Jang Geum is set around the late 15th to the early 16th century and is based on references within the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty to a female doctor of that time named Jang Geum (Lee Young-Ae) who possessed unparalleled skills in the medical field. Her skills granted her the prestige of becoming the 1st woman ever to be an imperial physician and the King’s personal doctor.

Oct 3, 2005

THE power of the Korean wave is sweeping across China, and even the top Chinese leadership has not been spared.

GREAT SHOW: Mr Hu regrets being too busy to watch every episode of Daejanggeum. --
President Hu Jintao is a big fan of the Korean historical drama Daejanggeum, or Jewel In The Palace, the Chosun Ilbo daily reported. He told a visiting South Korean lawmaker that it was a shame his busy schedule prevented him from watching every episode. Mr Wu Bangguo, the No. 2 leader in the Chinese Communist Party, said in a private conversation that he enjoyed watching the show because his wife loved Korean TV soap operas. Hunan TV started airing the 70-episode serial across 31 Chinese cities from Sept 1 and the show has since been topping the ratings chart. The TV station has invited Lee Young Ae, who plays the heroine, to visit China early this month. The China Youth Daily even went as far as to say that 'all Chinese people' loved the show. It said romantics were won over by the love story, the ambitious were inspired by the strong will of Lee's character, while the gourmets were attracted to the food. 'The people of China rediscovered lost dreams and social values in the serial,' the paper said. Set in the 16th-century Chosun dynasty, the serial traces how a determined palace maid goes through enormous struggles to become ancient Korea's first imperial female physician. (REUTERS)